Now that AI for businesses is taking off industrywide, it’s crucial to embrace the change to stay competitive in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. Read on to learn why AI is so important, how to develop an AI-ready strategy, how your infrastructure and data play a role, and how to get your employees and company culture ready for AI.
AI (artificial intelligence) refers to computer systems that can perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. Over time, AI learns from the data it receives to continually improve performance.Embracing AI offers numerous advantages for small businesses, including:
Creating an AI-ready strategy calls for a thoughtful approach that spans different aspects of business operations. Ask yourself, what do I want AI to accomplish for my small business? And how does that translate to different business functions to get my company ready for AI? For example, consider how the following business functions will need to prepare for AI:
It’s also necessary to have a clear idea of how you’ll apply AI within your business functions. Some possible places to start include:
AI-readiness budgeting should include costs for initial AI implementation, such as hardware, software, training, and consulting services. The AI solutions you pick should also be scalable for growth, so you don’t have to completely rethink your strategy down the line.
If this seems like a lot of upfront expense, keep in mind the potential long-term ROI of increased efficiency and revenue. You also don’t have to tackle every area that AI can help with—choose what makes the most sense for your business and what’s financially feasible. You always have the option to explore additional AI solutions in the future.
Now that you’ve set your initial goals for what you’d like AI to do for your small business, it’s time to prepare for AI from an infrastructure and data standpoint. Depending on which AI solutions you’d like to adopt, you’ll need to make sure you have the corresponding fit for hardware, software, and storage. Cloud services are a popular choice for AI infrastructure because they offer scalable computing resources that allow small businesses to access powerful AI capabilities without significant investment.
Because AI draws on the data that you provide, the quality of your data is everything. Be sure to 1) assess the quality of your data for accuracy, relevancy, and representation of the problems you aim to solve and 2) centralize your data, ensuring a single source of truth for AI. This will simplify data management, reduce redundancies, and enhance the overall reliability of the data used in AI processes.
Throughout history, many technological innovations have been met with apprehension before people understood them better. When the telegraph was invented, some believed it would degrade people’s communication abilities because of the short, incomplete sentences (a sentiment later echoed about text messaging). Today, some people worry that AI could replace them at work.
To ease your employees’ concerns about AI, address the topic directly. Explain that these are tools to help make their work lives easier and more efficient, not replace them. After all, people bring lived experiences to their roles and are able to offer specialized expertise, understand nuance, and provide emotional judgment (things that AI simply can’t do). By expressing that you recognize your employees’ inherent value, you’ll help them feel appreciated and empowered to incorporate this new technology in their day to day.
Additionally, AI doesn’t work on its own. It needs a pilot or driver. Think of it like using a forklift to raise a heavy pallet rather than picking up all the individual boxes in the pallet by hand—someone is still operating the forklift to make sure the work is done properly, but the forklift sure makes things easier.
How you get employees AI ready for the new processes you’ll use depends on which processes you’d like to adopt. For example, if you’re thinking of purchasing existing AI software to help employees with productivity in the apps that they already work in daily, the software company will likely have training resources available for employee learning. On the other hand, if you’re interested in building out your own AI system that’s customized specifically for your company and your unique needs, you may need to hire additional IT or support staff who have the expertise to help with both implementation and training.
Once your AI system is in place, it’s also important to keep up with the latest in AI technology. To accomplish this, consider:
More than 30 online platforms, advertisers, and publishers—including Microsoft—signed on to the recently updated European Commission’s Code of Practice on Disinformation, agreeing to strengthened commitments to tackle this growing challenge. Like the recent Paris Call, Christchurch Call, and Declaration on the Future of the Internet, multilateral and multistakeholder action can bring together the governments and public among democratic nations. Governments can then build on these norms and laws to advance the accountability the world’s democracies need and deserve.
Through rapid radical transparency, democratic governments and societies can effectively blunt influence campaigns by attributing the source of nation state attacks, informing the public, and building trust in institutions.
Although AI has been around for decades in ways you might not think about much (for example, the spellcheck feature in most word processors), some of the more recent AI tools available today, such as generative AI, are still in their infancy. Seeing how these newer tools will evolve and make work even more efficient is one of the most exciting parts of using AI.
If you’re just starting to prepare for AI, learn more about how AI for small businesses works and how it can help you set and achieve your goals.
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